Tencent Says It May Appeal Fine in Suicide Ruling

Dec. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Tencent Holdings Ltd. said it may
appeal a court ruling that ordered it to pay a fine of 55,612.50
yuan ($8,360) to the family of a college student who committed
suicide after discussing the plan in an online chat.

“We do not believe the original case was decided
correctly, and are now in discussions with our legal advisers
and are evaluating the possibility of an appeal,” the company
said in a statement e-mailed to Bloomberg News today.

The Zhejiang Province People’s Court in Lishui City in
eastern China on Dec. 3 ruled Tencent was partly responsible for
the death for its failure to remove chat group postings related
to the suicide plans, according to the official Xinhua News
Agency. Two youths used the chat room to discuss their plan to
commit suicide together in a hotel bathroom, and one of them
followed through, Xinhua said.

Tencent said the suicide plans were discussed using an
instant messaging service based on peer-to-peer technology,
which the company is “not empowered technically or legally to
monitor.” In addition, the suicide plans were also discussed
using methods besides the Internet, including phone calls and
text messaging, the Tencent statement said.